Fly to the Sky
by Maverickmage
Summary: A dream... A kiss... A farewell...
1. Prologue : Looking to the Sky

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 nor do I own Evil Zone. Don't sue me.  
Please be nice and so forth...  
  
/*thought*/  
"normal speech"  
[sign board]  
  
  
---------------------------Fly to the Sky----------------------------------  
  
  
Prologue : Looking to the Sky  
  
Ranma is seen trudging home. His form is battered with clothes torn  
in several areas, along with cuts. He walks without energy thinking about  
his day. As his thoughts progresses, he falls deeper and deeper into Ryoga  
like depression. /*Argh! This suck! Why does this always happen to me!   
Why does everyone think that everything is my fault... I... I just don't   
understand. After Pheonix Mountain... I thought... maybe, everything will  
just turn out fine.*/  
  
Slowly, Ranma's aura flickers into life, yet instead of the blue   
aura of confidence, the color is a sickly green. The aural color of   
depression. Unknowing of the aura surrounding him, Ranma continues on with  
his thoughts. /*I'm just getting sick and tired of all this. I'm trapped  
I guess. Damn, I'm almost home... Home... No. Not MY home... Akane's   
home. Nabiki's home. Kasumi's home. But... not mine.*/   
  
However, before Ranma could fall any deeper into depression, he   
notices the green aura around him. All of a sudden he starts to laugh and   
the aura quickly dissipates. "God... If anyone saw that, they would   
probably think I'm Ryoga." He then runs toward the Tendo's home while   
slowly shaking his head and chuckling a laugh that would break a person's   
heart if heard.  
  
Quickly, Ranma enters the Tendo's home and calls out, "I'm home."  
  
Kasumi comes out to greet him. However all she sees is a figure   
truding upstairs, battered and tired. She sighs with pity and walks back.  
The sight that she had seen just now was one that was becomming all too   
common. /*Poor Ranma...*/ Kasumi returns to her kitchen, slipping on the  
all too familiar mask of cheerfulness. The armor that she now could not let  
go. The mask that protected her throughout the years of hardship.  
  
//----------------------------------  
  
Ranma quickly takes a bath then comes out. Knowing that now he was  
under the scruitny of the people whom he lived with, Ranma slips on his mask  
also. One that is not so different from the one that Kasumi put on a few  
momments ago. However, his is not one of empty cheerfulness, but rather one  
that showed brashness and confidance. A mask that was second nature to him.  
It can be seen more of a second face than a mask really. He wore that face  
everywhere. More than the one that he showed a few momments ago. He really  
was brash and confidant. Arrogant beyond belief. Just not now. Not for a   
long time...  
  
Ranma then ran down the stairs in his usual self. Soon it was   
dinner time and he forgot most of his worries as he fought over food with   
his father. Really... even though he pretended that he disliked the game,  
he secretly enjoyed the match. It was something that he was used to. The  
only type of life he knew for 10 years of his life, and one the he missed  
more than he would admit.   
  
Ranma lived without a home for the majority of his life, unknowingly  
giving him a restless spirit. One that crashed against the barriers that   
seemed to be erected around itself. He missed the old days, the times when  
all he had to worry about was learning a new technique and what stupid thing  
his old man did again. Hey... Even though the stupid panda made his life  
miserable sometimes... He was the only one constant in his life. Also there  
is the fact that Genma really cared for Ranma. Hey... No matter what anyone  
says, Ranma, as a five year old cannot survive in the wild with no one to   
take care of him. Most of the stupid things done to him was to further his  
skills as a martial artist. (And to fill his glutton...)  
  
Soon, dinner was over and Ranma returned to reality. Sometimes,  
returning to reality is the hardest thing in the world. And perhaps the   
most inevitable. Reality hurts so much sometimes that it hurts. If Ranma  
was not taught to be any less of a man, he would have wept.  
  
No one saw his true feelings. No one. All was ignored.  
  
He jumped onto the roof. The only sanctuary Ranma had, that is  
until he was interrupted by a certain tomboy climbing up with a ladder.   
Ranma sighed and waited until Akane reached the top and braced himself. All  
of his meetings with Akane nowadays seems to go awry. Whatever he did, she  
took it the wrong way.   
  
"Hey Akane." Ranma said with a cocky voice, hiding his emotions.  
Afterall, a real man has to be a stotan. A man among men. Emotions... Only  
shown by weaklings.   
  
"Ranma... What are you doing here?"  
  
"I... I just came here to think."   
  
Akane laughed hearing that. Then replied, "That's a good habit. But  
don't hurt yourself."  
  
Perhaps, this remark was meant as a jest, spoken lightheartedly, or  
it may have been a snide comment. Nevertheless, it cut him, and his heart  
bled.   
  
"What do you want Akane?" Ranma asked with a tired voice.  
  
Akane suddenly narrows her eyes, briefly flashing with anger. "What  
do you mean Ranma? I just came here to cheer you up?"  
  
"And just why would I need to be cheered up?" Ranma asked. /*Sigh,  
same old, same old. Why can't thinks just go without blowing up in my face?  
Why can't anyone just leave me alone?"  
  
Akane suddenly stood up. Angry. In her ears, it sounded as if   
Ranma was blaming her! Truth whispered to her heart that perhaps, some of  
it was. However, the whisper was drowned out by her stubborness. The truth  
still reached her. Barely caressing her heart. Yet, to a person who cannot  
face the truth, truth angers.  
  
"Forget it! Why did I come up here in the first place? I must have  
been out of my mind to ome up here. Whatever it is, is probably your fault  
anyway!" Screaming this, she went back down the ladder.  
  
Ranma just ignored the whole thing and lay back down.  
  
Then he fell asleep...  
  
//-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
//-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Author's note: Well this is a new chapter. Let's see where it goes. This  
is a rough draft. but probably will stay as a final. I  
know not much happened in the story, but I have to set the  
mood and background.  
  
For those of you readers who complain and bitch about Ranma  
being depressed, will tough luck. I mean, I'm not sure   
about you, but if my life was as screwed as Ranma's I would  
be depressed. And Ranma is human after all.  
  
Anyway, read and reply... 


	2. Chapter 1 : Dreams and Beginings

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2 nor do I own Evil Zone. There is nothing more  
to say. /*Also you should thank me instead of sueing me. For all   
you know, I am promoting your sales. */  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
keys:  
/* thought */  
"speech"  
[Sign board]  
//------ passage of time.  
  
--------------------------------Fly to the Sky-----------------------------------  
  
Chapeter 1 : Dreams and Beginings  
  
Ranma stood on a grassy hill and as far as he could see was a field of   
the purest green. Though the visibility was as if day, the sky was obsidian black  
twinkling with lights from stars beyond. Everything was still except for the   
swaying of the grass from an occasional breeze. Not a sound was heard and all was  
as if dead. Ranma just sat and watched the horizon.  
  
However, this illusion of peace was not to last as movements caught the  
corner of his eyes. Upon turning his head, he squints his eyes as the sun glares  
into his eyes. The deathly peaceful landscape of green was gone and in its place  
was a blasted terrain. An unforgiving desert devoid of life was present. And in   
its distance, he could see two figures, fighting. The air around the figures   
crackled with energy. Yet, from where he stood, the figures where a speck of   
dust. To see the battle closer, he takes a step forward...  
  
As he sets his foot down, huge span of the desert seems to pass before his  
foot. He had crossed the desert with a single step and now stood no more than a  
few hundred yards from the fighters. Here he could see that one of the fighters  
was a female. She was breathtakingly beautiful with the purest of blue-green   
hair, sweeping down her back. From her back were two ethereal wings. Making her  
resemble an angel from heaven. But what caught his eyes the most, was her face,  
so painfully innocent and beautiful. Then, she smiled...  
  
With her smile, the world turned dark. Her face was now contorted, no   
longer, the paragon of innocence, but of dementia. She turned to her foe and   
said something. Whatever she said, he could not hear. The world was still devoid  
of sound.   
  
She was fighting against a monk. Compared to her delicate figure, the   
monk seemed to be a giant. His bulging arms seemed as if it could crush her with  
the utmost of ease. The battle as it raged on seemed as if in favor of the monk.  
Then it all changed with the angel's smile.   
  
She waved her arm and the two balls floating behind her flew forward.   
The balls began to circle around the monk, creating some sort of energy field   
around his figure. Her staff, glowing with energy swung forward, and the world  
flashed. When the spots in his eyes cleared, the desert, once a sea of sand now  
glittered. The whole field was glassed.  
  
Ranma ran towards the center of the blast. There he saw a fragment of a  
red cloth. Once worn by the monk. The redness expanded and filled his vision.  
Now he stood on a plateau. Looking down, he saw what seemed to be the world on  
fire. Devastation filled the world.  
  
Here, he again saw the same figure that he has seen before. This time,   
fighting a different opponent. Ranma squinted to see who the other figure was.  
This other person intrigued him. The new fighter's power was matching the power   
of the girl he saw before. This alone amazed him. The battle suddenly stopped   
and both disapeared, leaving the world burning from their powers.  
  
Ranma saw visions after visions of worlds being destroyed. And in all of  
his visions, it was the same figure. Then he heard a voice behind his back.   
Perhaps, because of the silence, the voice reverberated. He turned around and   
there, standing was a blue haired male. He was short, or at least gave the   
impression of shortness. Yet in his eyes were innocence and uncertainty. He wore  
some strange type of clothes. Almost a robe, which have been shorted. On his   
forehead is a crystal, pulsing with power.  
  
"The Destroyer." Was the word that came from his mouth as he stared at   
the carnage caused be the woman. He then looks up at Ranma and says, "She is the  
demon of the multi-universe. Destroying world for her own pleasure. Her name...  
Ihadurca." Saying this, the person raised his head. "The goddess of destruction  
now has come to our world." He then raises his hand and continues, "I have called  
upon the strongest warriors from the dimensions closest to the one I live in. You  
are the last I am able to call..."  
  
Ranma stood listening and understanding.   
  
The stranger continued. "We have managed to contain Ihadurca in a pocket  
dimension. It will contain her power for a time, but her fury is great, and her  
power and determination, even more. The dimension is called Evil Zone"  
  
Ranma for the first time spoke and his words held power. "What must I   
do?" The question was given with ease for it was his duty to protect.  
  
"In a weeks time, you will be summoned into my world. There you will face  
other fighters. A round of elimination will begin as we search for the strongest  
warrior. This is necesary for only one other may enter the pocket dimension." The  
stranger then looked straight into Ranma's eyes. "A word of warning. Here you   
are required to be a warrior, a soldier. Your life may be in danger and you must  
fight with the possibility death, either yours or your opponent's. Another   
warning is that of time. Our dimensions may be closely related, however we cannot  
guarrentee the time you will return. In this world you may be gone for a minute  
to a lifetime. Are you prepared to give up your whole life?"  
  
Ranma opened his mouth and his spirit spoke. "The value of a single life   
is held above mine. Such is the way of the one who swore to protect."  
  
The stranger nodded and everything flashed white.  
  
//--------------------------------------------------  
  
With a start, Ranma woke up. With a sigh, he stood up and walked outside  
for fresh air. Once outside, he jumped up onto the roof and lay down. Here he   
looked into the sky and the infinite stretch of space. Thinking about his dreams,  
he looked inside himself and searched for how he felt. The duty to protect others  
has always been a martial artist's duty. But to become a warrior... No... There  
was no question about it. The lives of others have always been above his and   
always above his. If others needed him to become a warrior to survive, then he  
would do so.  
  
It was nearing dawn now and the sky seemed to be getting lighter. He sat  
up and watched as the sun rose, brightening the world. He came to a conclusion,  
the others did not need to know of his journey, and he wouldn't tell them.   
Perhaps it would be better this way. Then he noticed movement in the corner of   
his eyes. He looked down and he saw Kasumi come out to prepare for the new day.  
  
What he saw her do was not unusual. She like usually did the household   
chores. But, there was something different about her. Something that he couldn't  
exactly place. Then it hit him. She wasn't smiling as she usually did when   
others were around. If he didn't know better, he would have mistaken the emotion  
on her face to be one on longing and sadness. It couldn't be... Not Kasumi...  
Could it?  
  
In good conscience, he could not just ignore what was evident to his eyes.  
He hopped down and walked to where Kasumi was putting up the laundry. "Hey. what  
are you doing up so early. Shouldn't you be sleeping more?"  
  
Kasumi, startled dropped one of the pieces of clothing that she was hanging  
up. Ranma stooped down to pick up the clothing and found it to be one of his   
shirts. "Kasumi... You don't have to wash my clothes or anything. I could take  
care of it."  
  
Kasumi quickly covered her melancholy expression and put on her usual empty  
smile that everyone became so used to. "No. It's alright Ranma. It's no trouble  
at all. I just wash it when I wash the other clothes."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Really, it's no trouble at all."  
  
Ranma sighed then he walked next to Kasumi and began to help her pin up the  
laundry. He felt that perhaps... perhaps she needed someone to actually see her.  
He began to talk to her amicably, trying to crack through the barrier that she set  
around herself. It was a martial artist's duty to help others right?  
  
Thankfully it was Saturday and everyone was sleeping in. If it was during  
the weekday, Akane would probably have malleted him for 'flirting' with her sis.  
As he talked to Kasumi, he seemed to crack her emotional barrier, but not enough.  
Not nearly enough. Soon it was about the time when the rest of the folks wakes  
up and Kasumi had to go in to prepare for breakfast.   
  
//------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Later on, everyone decided to go to the carnival that was opening up. That  
is, it would have been everyone had Kasumi gone also. But she had to excuse   
herself. The house was left in a mess and if she didn't get started on it now,   
then it would never be done. Everyone just nodded their heads when Kasumi told  
them that she couldn't go and promptly forgot about her. Everyone but Ranma that   
is. Noticing the disapointed look in Kasumi's face, Ranma made up an excuse not  
go also.  
  
"Hey... I can't go also. I got a challenge from Ryoga about a week ago.  
It's about time he showed up. I think he said something about a new techninque."  
Ranma then looked at the group, hoping that they would take the bait. Fortunatly  
his father was around.  
  
"Of course you can't go boy! If you were challenged, then you have to meet  
him." Them Genma weeps, murmuring about how his son was a girl for thinking about  
playing when he was challenged or some such nonesense.  
  
Ranma just ignored the fat bastard and went inside the house. There, he  
saw Kasumi cleaning up the mess that Akane made in the kitchen. Here he saw a   
sight that he thought he would never see on Kasumi's face. Emotions of anger,  
frustration, depression, hopelessness, played across her face.  
  
/* What the hell? */ Ranma basically thought to himself. He then walked to  
the sink where Kasumi was furiously scrubbing some gunk off the frying pan. "You  
know, all you have to do is pour some vingar(1) on it and let it set."  
  
Yelping in surprise, Kasumi dropped the pan and quickly turned around. She  
saw who it was behind her and quickly relaxed. "Ranma... Ranma you shouldn't   
sneak up on people like that."  
  
Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, he said,"Sorry Kasumi. I didn't  
know you would get so scared."  
  
"It's... it's alright Ranma." Then as an afterthought she added, "Put it   
in vinegar?"  
  
"Yeah. That usually takes off anything."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Well... I had to learn how to cook when I was on the road. Stupid pop  
didn't know how to cook anything except cup ramen. So I learned how. Trust me,  
when you never cooked a food in your life, you get some bad results. I found out  
about the vinegar by accident. I poured too much vinegar on one of my pan when  
I was washing the dishes. When it was time to clean the pan, all the gunk just   
came off."  
  
Kasumi laughed at this story. Then she looked at him curiously and asked  
"Why aren't you at the carnival with the others?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh yeah! I... um... I..." Ranma really tried. Really he did.   
But he just couldn't lie to Kasumi when she was looking at him in the face with  
her innocent expression. Slumping his shoulder, he murmured something slightly  
under the hearing range of most humans.  
  
"Ranma? I um... can't hear you."  
  
Taking a deep breathe he said, "I thought you might want some company."  
  
Kasumi blushed as she heard him say that. She had indeed been feeling  
lonely and his company would be welcomed. "Thank you Ranma." Together, they  
worked quietly fixing up the kitchen. Perhaps it was because there was an extra  
person there helping out, or because Kasumi felt happy for the first time in a   
long while, but the chores were finished quickly.  
  
Having nothing to do, they both walked to the dojo and sat down, looking  
outside. They talked for what seemed to be hours, mostly about mundane things.  
As the sun set and casted a beautiful glow throughout the sky, Ranma began to   
learn more and more about Kasumi. Her hopes and dreams, now shattered. Her life,  
now bound. Her fears and nightmares, always looming ever so close.  
  
However, when you learn about a person, they too learn something about you  
also. Kasumi heard the wistfullness, fears, passion in his voice and felt safe  
and comforted. For here was another person who seemed so much like her, and so   
different at the same time. Someone who she believed knew how she felt.  
  
As the sun half-way disapeared, they both turned their heads to speak and  
found their faces separated by mere inches. Slowly their faces closed in closing  
the distance separating the two. Yet in their minds, they knew it could not be.  
Ranma for the promise he made, and Kasumi for her loyalty to her family. Yet both  
desparately needed the support.  
  
"This once..." Kasumi whispered.  
  
And Ranma understood and whispered back, "Just this once..."  
  
And their faces closed in. Awkwardly they positioned their faces unsure  
of what to do. Never having been kissed or initiating the kiss before, they both  
kissed. An innocent kiss. Full of longing. Sweet and short.  
  
When the kiss ended, their hearts hurt.  
  
//----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
That night, Ranma went to sleep with his heart in a lively mood. Suddenly  
pain shot through his head. Waking him from his slumber. Screaming in pain he   
grabbed his head and curled up into a fetal position. Then the pain subsided as  
fast as it came.  
  
When Ranma finally gained coherence, a voice spoke in his mind.  
  
/* Ranma! We need your help. I could not give you the week that I had  
promised you. We underestimated Ihadurca's power. A year has already passed  
since I last contacted you. We... We ask of you to come now. Please... */  
  
Ranma kew what that meant and what he had to do. After all... What   
choice did he really have? He sent a sign of comfirmation in his mind.  
  
By this time, the entire household gathered around Ranma who was still  
curled up into a fetal position. Then he stood up and looked into the fearful  
eyes of Kasumi. His eyes said it all. A message of farewell and Kasumi   
understood. Then he murmured, "Evil Zone." and faded out of existence.  
  
  
//------------------------------------  
  
Author's note: Yeah, yeah... I know some of you don't like the fact that Ranma's  
depressed. If ya don't like it, then don't read it.   
  
I also know that there are some of you that supports Akane and   
basically hate Kasumi, well you can safely assume that, that   
relation is over.   
  
I did not write the conversation between Ranma and Kasumi because  
frankly I'm not that romantic so don't know what to write.  
  
I cannot guarantee that my stories will come quickly. Writing  
fanfic is just a hobby of mine and i only write when I'm in the   
mood.  
  
The bottom part is me being petty. don't read it if it will make  
you think bad about me.  
  
  
Bagging: The person who talked about the color of aura. Yeah you... What the   
hell are you talking about. Blue being neutral and green good. You  
just basically said that Ryoga's aura is good and Ranma's neutral.   
If you were just talking about meaning of colors in general, then you   
got that wrong too. Blue usually symbolizes protection or security not  
neutraility. Green can be seen as jealousy. Ever here of the phrase  
green-eyed monster? Colors have a lot of meaning. Next this is my   
fanfic so the aura color synbolism is whatever I mean it to be. 


End file.
